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Last week MS automatically installed two new programs on my computer without my permission. A year earlier I turned Win updates off via Registry Edit. Somehow with reboots over the past year Win 10 refreshed all it's command prompts for Win startup. I didn't catch it as it was stealth. The programs MS installed last week was MS Edge and One Drive. I only noticed because my HD was running excessively. Started a search for the guilty program taking up loads of memory and HD intercepts. It turned out to be MS Edge and One Drive. Searched for the install date and it was last week. It had removed my restore file dates. When I went to restore to an earlier date, nothing was there. Understand the difference between "restore" and "recovery" before one goes clicking on links.
MS Edge and One Drive are sticky programs designed so they can't be removed. (normally) MS idea is we put it there, you learn to live with it. MS is NOT transferring all the data off my computer to One Drive. Not only no but Hell No! Actually these programs may be removed with a little determination and programing knowledge. I remembered Gwen's blog where she purchased a (computer?) which had to be tied to the net to work. Big companies want everyone to rent their programs rather than buy them.
There is another down side to these two MS programs. I ordered a compressor filter off eBay Friday. Their Bot didn't recognize my computer (bless cookies) It texed my phone asking if it was me? Same computer two new MS programs. yes it is me, ship filters. Later I checked with a software surplus company for an Adobe program. They tracked my location back to India. It has to be where MS has these two programs home based. I shut both of them down before I did anything else on the net or bring up any of my computer based programs. A message popped up on my screen. One Drive was disconnected from the net. No telling how much data MS had siphoned off before I realized they were there.
I still rewrite code in Win Reg but..., I do NOT suggest anyone play around in Win Registry although it is one of the ways to get rid of Edge and One Drive. One critical error and the computer becomes a black void. The worse virus I ever encountered was caused by rewriting code in Registry. Wrong entry data. It even went to my HD Boot Sector and rewrote it. Had to deep format my HD to scrub everything off and rewrite the HD boot files. Despite what everyone will tell you, it may be done. Don't recommend trying it.
"Nice machine, what does it do?"
"Nothing."
There are several free software programs will scrub Edge and One Drive off one's computer.
https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-program-uninstaller.html
It won't uninstall MS Edge after it checks where all the tentacles of Edge has burrowed into one's system. Right button on your mouse, click on the MS Edge icon again "hard removal?" click yes. Give it time to scrub your PC of all traces of MS Edge.Repeat for One Drive.
Not finished as Win Up Date will reinstall both programs. Go into Control Panel and shut down updates for both programs. Turned off in Control Panel it starts countdown. It will reinstall after thirty five days. Hotel California "You can never kill the beast." Once again I'm digging in and removing Win 10 up date in Win Registry. I don't suggest anyone do this. There are other ways.
https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/how-to-stop-win10-updat...
Sadly, I'm a complete idiot when it comes to computers and programming. What does that say for people who haven't a clue why their computer turned into a lazy brick? MS Edge and One Drive are bloated software and resource hogs, they certainly bogged my computer down. Edge and one drive changed a lot of data on my computer but this story is long enough
Barb
Life is meant to be lived, not worn until it's worn out.
Comments
Get an external firewall.
I would recommend using a firewall to block access to the domains used by these two. Or adding the domains to your hosts file and point them to 127.0.0.1.
Multiple Factors
So, one of Google's top people quit there and I don't know if it was to retire or go somewhere else. There have been rumblings from within Microsoft. They went from Win 10 to Win 11 earlier than planned, and my old computer was not Win 11 compliant. I may have gotten hacked or gotten a worm (Who knows the scope of those things).
I believe that a large part of the problem in recovering has been the quantum leap in technology. My, mostly empty, Tower computer is run by an AI that resides who knows where. Over the last several days, the performance of said AI has improved as it learns. I've seen some indication that it thinks it lives at HP.
At any rate, these problems are resident throughout the networks.
Gwen
PS I just tried to back up a <1000 word word file to a thumb drive and discovered that I don't know how...
I made the switch to Linux
Windows 11 is awful. I was a Mac user for 32 years, though since 2021 or so I also had a Windows 10 machine to play games via Steam. (No actual work or writing done on it at all.) The Windows 10 experience was okay - surprisingly so. I remember the old days when Windows was cringe.
I had grown frustrated with the disposable, sealed-for-life (not always a very long life) nature of Apple computers, so I bought a Framework laptop (the highly modular machines designed for user-upgrades and repairs). It's been great; the only disappointment was the operating system. Windows 11 is sinister, doing far more to slurp your personal data than even Google... which is insulting in a product that I paid for. It's also an endless stream of advertisements for subscriptions and "services". I mean adverts right there in windows and menus. Click "Windows backup" because that sounds like a good idea, right? Uh... better have your credit card ready because it'll only back up to their cloud. Astonishing!
Windows 11 is computing cancer. The latest idea (that they'll screenshot whatever you're doing every three seconds, to train an AI that bloats over about a quarter of your hard drive) was the last straw for me. I write this from my new Linux environment, installed last week. I'm still learning to get the most from it, but I feel much better about things. Windows 11 was really getting my hackles up. (Why does a company think that the machine I bought to write novels on should come with 'Candy Crush'?)
Too bad my Windows 10 games machine will die next year. Microsoft still have twice as many users who are sticking with '10', and are trying to force them to "up"grade by ending support prematurely. (Remember when they said '10' would be the last version of their OS? For me, I wish it had been.) I think we're at a watershed moment where home computers cease to be a device for doing what you want and instead become mostly glass beads for the natives.
Sugar and Spiiice – TG Fiction by Bryony Marsh
I Agree With Everything You Said.
I'm thinking that I should buy some notebooks and write everything by hand. I just took a class in which the instructor insisted that hand writers are more creative. If that is how we do it, perhaps that is the end of eBooks and online blogs? It's probable that the Government is not going to be any help.
More Creative?
Maybe for some, but certainly not for all, or even most. My hand goes into spasms of pain when writing by hand, and the result is hardly legible, even to me.
I haven't fired up a Windows machine in over a year. Most everything is on a chrome tablet for now, with an eventual switch to some form of Linux. Sorry, MS, but I don't rent anything, especially software.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
I got fed up with Windows
in 2009 despite the fact that my job usually entailed developing software for Windows Server systems (go figure that one out)
Despite being a Linux Certified Engineer, I went for a MacBook Pro as my home computing platform of choice.
I called it a day at work when I saw Windows 8/8.1 with all that tiled lunacy. I no longer have a windows device at home.
I do run Linux (Rocky or Alma Linux) for my own blogs but this post is being written on an M1 Macbook Pro.
While Apple is a corporate thug, they do actually care about user privacy. Then there are all the little things that make it a great platform to work on (As an author). Take backups. MacOS has this little thing called Time Machine built in to the OS. It works. Moving to a new machine is a piece of cake with MacOS.
MS has its own agenda and wants to compete with the likes of Google and Facebook for the amount of YOUR data that they literally steal and use to fling adverts back at you. Having studied Operating Systems a long time ago, they have IMHO lost the plot entirely. An OS is there to let you do you work and to get out of the way when you don't need their facilities. MS broke that rule a long time ago and threw the whole rulebook into the garbage with Windows 8.0/8.1 and has only gotten worse since.
MS also wants you to rent their software. I say bollocks to that. If I could find a decent alternative to Adobe Lighroom for photo management, I would junk their subscription in a flash.
Windows is not the only solution these days and the more MS keeps pissing off their user base, the more people will 'Just say No' to their grift.
Samantha
We Wish
Samantha, you, I, most everyone who delve into the innards of an OS wish MS along with other companies would provide a clean bloat free install. The general public haven't a clue what the programs on their computer are doing to or for them. MS and I are bonded through supplemental programs operating only in a Win binary 16 system. Win 32 and 64 binary made sure there was no reverse so those programs could nor would work with the Win upgrades. I no longer tweak Win OS by rewriting part of the programing. It's been years since I wrote DOS programs. My biggest amusement with MS now is removing their bloat ware, spy ware. Win 10 is my final Win upgrade. MS will stop supporting it? Give me a break, who cares? My computer is vulnerable if I don't upgrade to the latest MS OS? LOL, MS is the biggest virus running and no one realizes except very few. People pay to install that virus on their computers. Win can be made to behave but one must dig into the innards. This last trick by Win caught me with my guard down. After scrubbing both programs, places, companies, recognize my computer again. Some cookies are good, others not. As far as advertisements, I don't see any as I travel the net. I get a popup every now and then from a virus blocking program I installed.
Want a copy of IBM DOS or MS DOS, Win 3, Win XP, or basic Win 10 without the bloat ware? I can live with MS Windows. It can be brought to heel but I'm through with their nonsense. I'm not going through this again with an upgrade. One last caution, a lot of sites now want me to log in with my Google ID. That is up to each individual, personally never happen. I also block ISP locations which pop up now and again. They aren't following me back to my net provider. More individual tracking what we do on the net. I'm not joining their game.
Hugs Samantha
Barb
Next time you and Bru go out night clubbing give me a heads up. If I can borrow the teal, silk, jumpsuit Bru wore last week, I'll see if it gets me as much attention as it did her. (fat chance of that happening)
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Windows 10 might get a service extension
Right now Windows 10 is still over 60% of the computer market on installed OS. And Windows 11 has actually lost ground.
Microsoft looks to be doing the security update extension program for non corporate windows installs this time, another possibility is they will extend it life. Microsoft finally might be noticing how poorly received Windows 11 has been, and for me I have been holing out as much as possible for Windows 12.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggy4fv2TWJc
Here is a recent youtube video on some of the things that migth be happening.
"Cortana is watching you!"
*Sigh*
First - I'm an IT Consultant, and have been doing IT since _before_ Windows 95.
Second - Not my first rodeo with people complaining about web browsers.
Third - I run Xubuntu on my daily use laptop.
Edge is not going away. Edge is NOT Microsoft's work. It's a Chromium rebadged browser, the same as Chrome, Brave, and so forth. The nasty behaviour in Edge is also there in the other browsers, if you turn them on. Here's the short list of 'ways to neuter Edge' without risking doing drastic things to your system.
1) Don't give it permission to anything when you open it.
2) Once you have the initial start page up, go to the gear in the upper right corner of the page (Not the browser), and turn _everything_ off.
3) Once that's done, go to the options/settings menu in the upper right corner of Edge itself. I do this automatically, and I'm not at a windows PC, so I'm not going to be as specific as I should.
In settings, go to the option on the left. Just go down each, and review the options. A couple will be sneaky and open halfway down the page, so be sure to scroll back up.
Turn off 'preload start page'. Turn off 'start with pc'. Turn off 'keep Edge running' when you close. (This is in 'system') Those three make a HUGE difference. Turn on 'Do not track'. Turn off 'allow sites to check to see if I have payment methods saved'. Turn off all options that look nice, but end up sending everything to microsoft. That is, Defender, 'secure DNS', non-profits for you to support, and everything else. Sort tabs is up to you.
In sidebar, they get really nasty and sneaky. Go to Copilot -first-. Turn off everything under copilot. Then go back to the main sidebar menu, and shut everything off. If you don't turn off copilot's options first, they stay there at the upper right, no matter what - even when disabling sidebar.
Those changes mean that even though you haven't uninstalled Edge, it'll stay 'off' as long as you don't open it. BTW - Chrome has most of those options as well, and sometimes they'll be turned on also. Same with Brave.
For OneDrive. Get CCleaner from Piriform. The free one. Right click OneDrive, go to the settings, and disable the normal startup. Unfortunately, it's still there in two other places. The ccleaner menu has a 'startup' things, and you can disable most of the rest.
Ctrl-Shift-Esc - open taskbar. Go to the 'startup' section (it varies between win10 and win11, home/pro). Make sure to disable things there as well. Then you can remove ccleaner, because even _it_ wants to start automatically (you can easily disable that, but for this purpose, you can uninstall it.)
With these options, the programs are still 'installed' to the OS, but there's relatively little monkeying around and resetting done by Microsoft updates. Mostly it's new features added, then activated, but they rarely reactivate things that were already present and turned off. (in Edge/Onedrive)
Even OneDrive WILL NOT eat your data unless you've activated a microsoft account _and given it permission to every app on the system_. If you granted it permission to just Office, it won't activate with onedrive automatically. If you activated a microsoft account when you started the OS up, you can go in and disable most of the permissions - you can even remove it completely from the login, and go back to a standard one.
Don't mess with the registry unless you have a good idea of what you're doing.
If you're paranoid about the boogeyman, make sure you make regular backups. Major Windows updates will erase all restore points because of the number of files they change out. This isn't new behaviour. Windows NT 4 started off with a 35 megabyte install, but after the service packs were finished, it was over 300 megabytes in size. That's an increase in the OS size by a multiple of 9. That was a HUGE sign that they didn't actually check their own code or fix bugs before release.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Edge replaced Internet Explorer
Microsoft Edge was the default Browser for Windows 10, it started as a new browser not based on IE, Fire Fox, or Chrome. But it never gained market share. So Microsoft finally waved the white flag and made Edge into a chromium based browser, I would have preferred fire fox base.
Also IE was removed from Windows 10 completely to stop people from continuing to use it and many people still were.
OneDrive was also in Windows 10 from the start but it was originally called Skydrive, and ended up undergoing a rebranding due to copyright issues on the name. If you do not want OneDrive to run like it does you can deselect the files it automatically backs up that is what I did. or just do not sign into a Microsoft account.
"Cortana is watching you!"
I stuck with W7
The more I read about W10 and W11, I think I did the right thing by sticking with W7. I even specially ordered a laptop with W7, so I wouldn't have to deal with all the crap that W10 added. My office downgraded from W7 to W10 shortly before I retired, and it was *awful*. Among other things, lots of things didn't work any more, such as MS Office, and our IT support people couldn't make them work.
BTW, I also go look through all the processes in TaskManager and such and disable the services that update stuff. (I *hate* automatic updates.)
If your IT department couldn
If your IT department couldn't make Office work, that's their problem - not Windows 10. I've installed Office 97 on Windows 10 and it worked fine (other than Outlook, but that's not Outlook's fault. - it's the servers). I've done every version from there through the current '365' version.
There are apps that throw fits, absolutely, but most of them won't install right on Windows 7 x64 either.
Adding Open Shell (Classic Shell Reborn) to your Windows 10 or 11 machine makes life enormously more simple.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Get Linux
The first two weeks you will hate it (learning curve). After that, you will love it and will not replace it with anything.
Linux is not without its loonies
This post is my opinion and my opinion only. But, as a Linux user since Slackware 1.1 was on the front cover of a PC mag and have made a living from it in the past one or two here might find my opinions interesting.
One company in particular wants to force us to use their [redacted]. Once upon a time, this company was a beacon of light in an almost Microsoft world. They produced an easy to install and use distro but then illusions of grandeur took over and they IMHO, went to pot.
Now we get this abortion called 'SNAP' from them. Getting rid of it once it has infected your system is nigh on impossible,
I'm talking about Canonical, who I consider to be the MS of the Linux world. I no longer recommend any Ubuntu based system.
Just my worthless 2c opinion which can be ignored.
Samantha
It is alway possible go to the basic form...
You can always go to the basic form - Ubuntu was derived from Debian, and well - no 'SNAP' there.
Debian isn't without it's insanities (which OS has none, eh?), but I ran it personally since Lenny or so (and did my fair share of distro hopping before). And with 'mate' desktop it is sane-ish.
As for Canonical or, for that matter, RedHat - not the first time when corporate greed starts to spoil everything.
I don't like snap. Mostly
I don't like snap. Mostly because the package size is enormous, and the process of conversion wasn't tested well enough, eating LOTS of people's data (Firefox, Thunderbird, etc).
That said, I _understand_ why they did it. Unlike Microsoft, which is driven by Marketing people, the linux stuff is often driven by people that are the fringe case users. Those people were tired of constantly having to make 40 different packages for maintaining, depending on the various libraries needed, so they came up with a way to package the libraries _with_ the particular program, making them more 'portable'.
Example on the fringe case loonies? About five years ago, Thunderbird went through a redesign to make it more modern. Last year, they did ANOTHER one, because the current crop of idiots said 'It's ugly, it needs to be modernized!' - claiming the _exact same excuses_ for reasons that the five years previously did. And five years before that. Forced threading, forced removal of the concept of 'from' and 'to'. The assumption that all received and all sent should be jammed together in one big mish-mash. Showing threaded views even if you're just selecting multiple things to delete (which slows everything down).
So, there are loonies everywhere. The only thing you can do is try to figure out where their motivations are coming from, and find alternatives. For Ubuntu derivatives? There are people packaging those things that are being 'snapped', and offering them up for others as well as themselves.
Me? I just put in a bigger hard drive and kept going. I needed the space anyway.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
What is without loonies?
I couldn't agree more with that. :)
As jana said, you can always go with the original - in Canonical's case, Debian. It is a community-supported distro, and novadays pretty much the rock on which nearly every Linux distro is built. Installing it takes some IT knowledge (eg. you have to know what an IP address is), but after that it is rock stable.
If you prefer something that requires no tech skills and just installs and works out of the box, I'd suggest Linux Mint Debian edition. Cute, stable, works like a charm.
And did I mentioned that you can install it along Windows, if you have some space on your harddisk for the Linux partition? At boot time, you can choose which of the two you will run. You need the other - a reboot and you are there. Makes the migration much easier. :)
Sure, Linux also has gripes. But not as big and nasty as Windows. And you can't expect from Linux developers the leeching of your private info that is the staple of everyone else.
Linux Partitions
I've installed Ubuntu on various things over the past, always on a partition. I've tried using it as a mostly writing OS. And then install everything I normally have on Windows, music, Libre Office, web browser, etc. because I use them while writing. Everything except for the games, so at the moment that's the only thing really holding me back from going full Linux, especially with the likes of Ubuntu getting more user friendly, better (and actual) drivers, and the streaming services I use switching from dedicated (windows/mac only) apps to in-browser implementations.
However, with regards to partitions, I always, always, mess something up. I create the partition, that's no issue, but the options at boot up are invariably messed up in some way. Defaulting to the wrong OS, or needing repairs after a period of time that are an absolute pain to sort out. I'd be happier to have Linux on a laptop, but unless the laptop is made with that in mind it's a butt-ache. Otherwise I'll only use Linux if I put it on a separate SSD, which is something I might manage in the next few months.
Some advice on it
If your HDD is really big - over 2 or 4 TB - you might need a special boot partition. It is usually very small, 1MB suffices. (Best make it 4 or even 8 M to play safe with future upgrades. It is still practically nothing.) I have heard that on some systems it has to be the first partition. Not on all, but if yours is among these... Many Linux installations create it automatically. Some might need you do it.
You need a root partition, where Linux is installed. A Windows partition has to be the first one on the disk (except for a special boot partition where needed). A Linux partition can be just any in order, the Linux bootloaders usually handle that well.
If you will use the root partition for Linux install only, and will have another partition for your home directory, size matters. If you install a compact distro like Debian, 10G can be enough for a tight install. (If you are a pro, you might be able to install it on less than 1G, but if you aren't, better don't try it.) For a somewhat comfortable install, you will need about 20G. For an install that handles anything short of stuff like a Nix package manager or other rarely used root space guzzlers, make it 32G.
Choosing a file system matters too. Linux bootloaders handle most FS. If your root partition contains the installation only, not your home directory, ext4 is the best choice. If it contains your home directory, I would suggest considering xfs (if your bootloader will handle it - check that) or btrfs (same caveat).
The two mainstay Linux bootloaders are grub (mostly used today) and lilo. Grub relies on a config file that looks scary, but editing it to change the boot order is simple. (Don't forget to reinstall grub after that.) Lilo is even simpler.
Chrome laptops are made for ChromeOS, which is essentially a Linux. Second hand Dell, HP and Lenovo laptops are usually supported completely.
Linux - This is what I mean
This is what I mean about Linux, or possibly Windows. Just let me choose my OS at startup. Wrestling with bootloaders and all the like shouldn't be a pain in the ass.
If what you say is true then I've never apportioned any size to it. It took what was needed. On a 250gb system splitting two OSes that was small, but I never went into custom anything. On a 1gb drive that should be more than enough. Don't give me boot problems, please. When you start up, and come from my Bios, just let me pick which OS I want.
It just doesn't work.
WinDoze
I agree with the others. I switched to Linux-Mint (Cinnamon) over a year ago.
Best move I ever made despite not being able to run WinDoze games any more.
I'm using Open Office (free) and it is excellent. Short learning curve due to similarities with
my previous Office programs. Even so - close enough to WinDoze office for someone to use it
with little learning curve.
If you have word files saved in Corel's Office programs then use LibreOffice as it is capable of reading them (and converting them to the .odt files) odt is OpenOffice and LibreOffice's word processor files suffix. The spreadsheet is compatible as well. Both can read WinDoze Office files.
POOKA
Must need Windows
So if you must use Windows but not for gaming, the Workstation version may give you better control over the OS. It is not designed for gaming though if I recall correctly as there might be driver differences. The Workstation version is of course more expensive but that is the tradeoff. It is also consumer junk free at install - no Candy Crush or other bloat ware as far as I know as this version is high performance computing work focused.
We are not Enterprise users of the OS so it makes it harder to dictate what the OS can do unfortunately as the Enterprise version will give you ultimate control.
I work in a classfied environment and an OS that can not be secured is a non-starter.
Finally there is the classic tool shutup 10 that will shutdown as much of Windows 10's constant phoning home but you have to be careful of not totally eliminating Windows Update support. The interface does offer recommnds whether some options NOT be turned off also.
I'm hoping...
I'm hoping that microsuck continues their path of every other operating system sucks badly and windows 12 comes out soon. One would think they had learned their lesson with Windows 8, but it seems they are insistent on trying to change things that NO ONE wants changed.
I have it on a few laptops and a PC as I must learn it due to the work I do. It took me half a day of editing the registry, adding freeware and some serious hacking to get it into what I would call a usable state.
The insistence on the microsoft login for windows 11 is annoying at best and debilitating at times as it wants to sync all microsoft apps on ALL PCs use use suck as MS Edge on windows 10 PCs. Yes there are ways around this if you're computer savvy, or can follow directions on youtube.
The worst of the changes is the start menu, like Windows 8 it is useless in its default state, the start menu requires several clicks to get past idiotic panels with suggestions of programs you don't want or need to get to the actual menu.
Then the easiest to "FIX", the start button. What is god's name made microsuck think we wanted it in the center of the taskbar, rather than on the left like it has been since windows 95? Yes it can be fixed (for now) with a simple tick mark in a box, once you pull your hair out looking for it.
All in all, if you can hold out for windows 12, do so! If not I would suggest giving Linux a try. Linux Mint (cinnamon) is very close in appearance to windows.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Waiting for Windoze 12?
in the hope that it will be better than W10/W11? Ok, I have this bridge in the middle of the AZ desert that I wanna sell you!
All the bovine excrement that they are trying out with W11 will be baked into the cesspit that will make up Windows 12. By 'baked in', I mean impossible to remove (like IE was in the past). Data Slurping will be taken to a new level. Every keystroke/mouse or pointer movement will be used to train their AI to fire ads at you 24/7 and almost impossible for ad blockers to stop.
Please feel free to bookmark this post and slag me off if I'm wrong.
Samantha